Nigerian kid wonder, Kelechi Iheanacho
has made known his desire to gain more playing time at the former Premier League champions after
he helped Manchester City overcome a stubborn Roma side in Melbourne.
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| Photo Credit: Vanguard Ngr |
one and provided an assist for debutant Raheem Sterling against Roma and has
now expressed the hope that he can break into the Citizens’ main side based on
his hard work.
The Citizens needed penalty to triumph over
Roma in the encounter after the game ended in a two all draw.
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Kelechi Iheanacho‘s goal, from an Ashley
Cole’s misplaced back pass, restored Manchester
City’s lead after Miralem Pjanic had cancelled out Raheem Sterling’s
opener.
But Adem Ljajic had the final say on the
encounter, equalizing to force the encounter into penalties which the former
English champions eventually won 5-4.
“I hope to play because I’ve been training
hard, working hard with them (first team) during the pre-season. So I hope to
break into the first-team,” he said on his hopes for the new 2015-16 season.
The 18-year-old forward also reserved a large
dose of praise for Raheem Sterling who recently made a big money move from
Liverpool to City.
“[Sterling’s] a very good player and I feel
very honoured playing with him. He’s a very good player, intelligent and skillful
and quite strong,” Iheanacho confessed.
The Nigerian also attracted commendation from
City coach Manuel Pelegrini who was impressed with the impact the young forward,
one of two young players who started the game, had on the game.
“Well I think that the big positive from this
game was to play two very young players in Kelechi Iheanacho and Manu Garcia. I
thought they both had a very good performance today,” Pelegrini said.